


happy birthday, washington

by squipport



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, grif simmons & sarge are there too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-01
Packaged: 2020-11-09 07:24:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20849699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squipport/pseuds/squipport
Summary: rated T for curse wordsMost people dread their thirtieth birthday because it means they're exiting their twenties, but for Wash it's much worse.





	happy birthday, washington

He sleeps in for the first time in... a while. Can’t even remember the last time he’s done that, and briefly wonders if he ever has.

It’s still not long enough, and he wishes he could sleep the day away just to avoid the nausea and fatigue that begins weighing on him as soon as his eyes open.

He does his morning stretches like normal, dresses like normal, brushes his teeth and avoids looking in the mirror like normal.

Feels far from it.

Wash is no stranger to bad days, but this is... different. Worse in a way that leaves him numb. Like he’s one second away from breaking down, but that second will never come, stretched to eternity.

The Blues don’t notice him enter the living area right away, too busy fighting over something in the kitchenette to hear him come in. Normally he would make a comment about vigilance, but he doesn’t have it in him today.

Tucker notices him first, and Caboose uses the opportunity to steal the rubber spatula they were arguing over and start licking the batter off it.

“Mornin’, Sleeping Beauty,” he says. “Happy birth-”

Wash is out of the base before he can finish.

_(“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”_

“_He just doesn’t like you.”_

“_Oh my God, shut up.”)_

He runs laps around the canyon <strike>like normal</strike>, music from the old MP3 player Simmons fixed for them during a Red Team surrender playing as loud as it will go through his earbuds. It isn’t loud enough.

Usually he runs around Red Base before turning back to do the same with Blue Base, repeating as necessary, but he can see Tucker and Caboose waiting for him and they’re holding-

He cuts his usual path short, and sticks to running laps around Red Base. They currently have a truce with the Reds, so he stays there for hours. Sarge works on a jeep, Grif and Simmons take their usual watch; they don’t bother him.

Wash can’t hide forever, though. He’s tempted to stay at Red Base where they’re less likely to Know, but he doesn’t think he can deal with Sarge or Simmons today. So after hours of running, he finally starts the trek back to Blue Base, walking the entire way back.

The Blues aren’t waiting for him when he gets back.

He showers and wants to take his time to avoid them, but thoughts have a funny way of catching up with you through the steam and he can’t avoid thinking about it forever he needs to deal with this needs to work through it find some way to-

He punches the wall, and finds relief in the pain.

  


The problem with Blue Base is that it’s situated in the middle of nowhere, in a box canyon, with only five other people; so not only is there not much to do, but it’s only a matter of time before running into one of them is inevitable.

It’s Caboose he encounters, sitting at the edge of the roof of the Base and swinging his legs off the side. He considers retreating back down the ramp, maybe retiring to his room where he can avoid this but...

He hesitates, long enough for Caboose to notice him.

“Hello, Ch- Agent Washington.”

“Hello, Caboose,” he returns softly, and finds himself joining him.

They sit in silence for a moment, and the thoughts Wash isn’t ready to deal with yet stay at bay, Caboose’s calming and familiar presence protecting him. They’re still there, lying in wait and still as overwhelming, but just enough at the edge of his mind to be manageable.

The silence doesn’t last forever, Caboose the one to break it.

“Birthday’s are hard,” he says, and Wash hums in agreement. So, they are doing this.

“I don’t always remember when mine is, because it’s hard to keep track out here, but Tucker remembers for me. And it’s sad, because my sister’s aren’t here and they were always there for my birthday, but Tucker and... Tucker is always nice to me on my birthday and they would make cake and-

“It’s still hard, and sad, but friends make it easier.

“But you were on your own for a long time, I think, and then when you weren’t you were with the Meta, and I don’t think he was great for conversation-”

Wash sobs, and realizes that he’s crying.

“You’re used to being on your own, and maybe you don’t want us to know that you’re sad, but it’s okay. We’re... we’re all sad, sometimes, but it’s okay to ask for help, Agent Washington. We’re your friends.”

There’s another presence on the roof with them and Wash turns to see Tucker sit next to them, balancing three plates between two hands. It’s the cake the two of them were making earlier, and he reaches past Wash to give Caboose a slice first and he hesitantly pats Wash on the shoulder as he hands him his.

He considers his cake for a moment; they don’t have forks, but that doesn’t stop either off the Blue’s from digging in.

“I had a sister,” he quietly confesses, and he considers leaving it at that once their attention is on him, but... he needs to do this.

“We weren’t the closest, but I loved her. She was the only family I had, really, our dad wasn’t... she was older than me, stronger too, and I looked up to her.

“When we were kids... I was having a hard time with some other kids at school. When she found out, she started teaching me self defense. I don’t know where she learned it, because she was on the track team, but we practiced in the backyard after school for a couple weeks. We never talked about the bullies and she only taught me enough to get started, but I kept at it and was able to deal with the problem myself, eventually. Got suspended for it, but they stopped bothering me.”

He takes a deep breath, and it comes out shaky on the exhale.

“It’s my thirtieth birthday. I’ve... officially outlived her.”

He sets his cake down, untouched, and stares unseeing to the cliffs surrounding the canyon.

Tucker puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes, keeps it there as Caboose tentatively hugs him, arms around his middle.

He has a thought that he should shake them off, he shouldn’t have trusted them with this, shouldn’t have let himself be vulnerable with them.

Instead, he leans into Caboose and puts a hand over Tucker’s, squeezing back.

It doesn’t last long, and Wash is relieved as they release him and go back to their cake. He finally tries his; admittedly it isn’t very good, but he appreciates it more than he can say.

  


“Told you they had cake!” Grif yells from the ground. Their jeep is parked a ways away, Sarge and Simmons still exiting it, but Grif is already at the base of the... Base, looking up at them. “Hey, Tucker! Give us some cake!”

“It’s Wash’s birthday cake, you ass!” Tucker yells back.

“Oh, like he’s going to eat the whole thing? Birthday cakes are for sharing, dipshit, now fork it over!”

Tucker glances at Wash and shrugs. “They’re probably not going to go away unless we do what he says.”

“You’re probably right.”

Grif has already made his way inside the base, Sarge and Simmons drawing closer as well, so Wash heads down to meet them, the Blue’s following him.

There aren’t enough chairs for all of them. Tucker sits on the counter, Caboose sitting on the floor near him, Sarge and Grif have claimed the only two chairs in the kitchenette, and Simmons leans against the counter near them.

Wash remains standing and just watches them all quietly.

“What’s up, dude?” Tucker asks, noticing his distance and hopping off the counter to join him.

“... This is the most people I’ve had at a birthday party,” he confesses quietly, just for Tucker to hear.

“Well, you better get used to it, dude. You’re a Blue now, and Blue’s celebrate birthdays.”

Wash smiles, just a little, and pushes his shoulder against Tucker’s, a small thank you, and he’s okay. He’ll be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> i wonder who his sister is just kidding it's carolina bc i like carwash siblings. this takes place between s8 & s9, before she finds them. she was twenty nine when the meta threw her off that cliff and wash has thought her dead for something like five years
> 
> also lopez and donut aren't there because i realized watching this that everyone thought they were dead until s10 so like.... after s8 did the reds and blues go back to blood gulch ??


End file.
